Rihanna: Rachel Dolezal Is 'a Bit of a Hero'

What does Rihanna think about Rachel Dolezal, the white NAACP exec who portrayed herself as black? You may be surprised: "I think she was a bit of a hero, because she kind of flipped on society a little bit. Is it such a horrible thing that she pretended to be black? Black is a great thing, and I think she legit changed people’s perspective a bit and woke people up." That's one tidbit from an extensive cover interview Rihanna did with Vanity Fair (that comes, interestingly, soon after she granted The Fader only five emailed questions) during which she got pretty open:

• On getting back together with Chris Brown after he assaulted her: "I was that girl, that girl who felt that as much pain as this relationship is, maybe some people are built stronger than others. Maybe I’m one of those people built to handle shit like this. Maybe I’m the person who’s almost the guardian angel to this person ... I was very protective of him. I felt that people didn’t understand him."

• On finally ending things with Brown: "You realize after a while that in that situation you’re the enemy. You want the best for them, but if you remind them of their failures, or if you remind them of bad moments in their life, or even if you say 'I’m willing to put up with something,' they think less of you—because they know you don’t deserve what they’re going to give. And if you put up with it, maybe you are agreeing that you [deserve] this, and that’s when I finally had to say, ‘Uh-oh, I was stupid thinking I was built for this.’ Sometimes you just have to walk away. I don’t hate him. I will care about him until the day I die. We’re not friends, but it’s not like we’re enemies. We don’t have much of a relationship now."
• On her brief relationship with Matt Kemp: "We were still dating … we were just three months in and I liked his vibe, he was a good guy, and then paparazzi got us on vacation in Mexico. He handled it well; I didn’t. I got so uncomfortable because now what? He’s not even able to be seen with [another] girl, because I’m dragged back into headlines that say he’s cheating on me, and I don’t even [really] know this guy."
• Why those rumors of all her sexual flings are wrong: "That would be empty for me; that to me is a hollow move. I would wake up the next day feeling like s---. ... That’s why I haven’t been having sex or even really seeing anybody, because I don’t want to wake up the next day feeling guilty."

Click for the full piece or to see the cover. (More Rihanna stories.)